if that guy's got into your blood
by kelly.rockwell
Summary: Jake gets advice from his big brother, who happens to be an expert in messed up relationships and what it feels like to fall for your best friend.


Puck can tell that something's on his little brother's mind the second he steps into the room.

He acts like he doesn't notice for as long as possible, because he's figured out by now that they're a lot more alike than not, and that means that Jake needs to come around to talking about his feelings in his own time.

Eventually, though, even Puck gets impatient with waiting and just sighs, nudges Jake's shoulder with his own and asks him. "What's goin' on with you, dude?"

Jake frowns at him in response. "Nothing. It's stupid. I can't even say it out loud."

Puck grins reassuringly at his little brother. "Oh, trust me, I know from stupid. You can tell me, man. This is a judgment-free zone right here."

Jake's eyes dart around the room a few times, as though he's sweeping for spies or recording devices or an immediate way out.

"You have to promise you're not gonna think any less of me," Jake says, and he sounds serious enough that Puck finds himself taken aback by the notion of it.

Puck scoffs. "You're my baby bro, dude. I could never think less of you."

"Okay," Jake says, nodding. "I like someone, and it's not Marley."

Puck lets out a little 'wooo' noise and claps Jake on the back. "Damn, boy. Got them Puckerman lady-killing genes, that's for sure."

But Jake tenses under his touch, jaw clenched and eyes downcast, and Puck quiets. "Hey, what's wrong? It's okay if you and Marley aren't working out, Jake, it's high school. You always think your high school love is gonna last forever, but-"

"No," Jake cuts him off, eyes glossy and red when he looks up at his brother. "I feel bad about Marley, yeah, but that's not- it's not another girl."

Puck stares at him wordlessly, arching a brow in silent encouragement for him to continue.

Jake sighs heavily, resting his head in his hands. "It's Ryder."

"Oh," Puck says, nodding. "Listen, hey, there's nothing wrong with that, okay? Not a damn thing. It's perfectly okay for you to like another dude, you got that?"

Jake huffs out a humorless laugh. "Even if that's true, he's my best friend. And we fought over Marley, we both did. How can I go from fighting with him over which of us gets to kiss the girl to wanting to forget about the girl and just kiss him?"

Puck feels something familiar tugging at his insides, and he sighs. Fuck it, Finn's not here to overhear and it might actually help his brother to hear it, so he runs a hand over the back of his head and prepares himself for the truth that's about to leave his mouth.

"Alright, look," Puck says, "I have a little experience with this situation."

Jake scoffs. "I seriously doubt that."

"No," Puck says, looking at his brother with the most sincere expression he has. "I have been exactly where you are right now. Believe me."

Jake perks up at that. "You have? With who? When?"

Puck absently looks over at Finn's unmade bed and shakes his head. "It's not important who. Just know that I get what you're feeling. I know how much it sucks."

Jake swallows hard and nods. "So what did you do?"

"Don't do what I did," Puck says, chuckling drily. "I didn't do any of it right. Almost lost him a few times."

Jake arches a brow at Puck. "Wait, are you talking about-"

"So," Puck cuts him off before he can fully form the question, "we need to make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did."

Jake frowns at his brother's guarded behavior, but he nods. "Okay. What do I do?"

Puck lets out a whoosh of breath and cracks his knuckles. "Right, so first of all. As much as I think Marley is a total sweetheart, if you don't feel for her, you need to tell her now rather than later. It's not fair for you to string her along."

"But if I break up with her, Ryder might go for her again, and that's like the exact opposite of what I'm going for," Jake says, a little panicky like maybe he's picturing it in his mind.

"Yeah, that's true," Puck says, frowning. "But it's a chance you have to take if you're really serious about Ryder."

"Okay, but what if-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Puck interjects, patting Jake on the shoulder. "Don't do that. I wasted so much time playing the 'what if' game, man, and it got me exactly nowhere."

Jake leans back against the couch and sighs. "It just scares me that I could put myself out there and he could totally not feel the same. At all. I could lose him. He's my best friend, dude, I don't know what the fuck to do."

Puck forgets he's looking at his little brother for a moment, imagines it's himself a few years back. It might as well have been, for all of the similarities in their situations.

"You don't have to do anything you're not ready to do," Puck says reassuringly. "But you should make sure, at least, that you're as open as you can be."

Then, seeing the still searching look on his brother's face, he adds, "If I could do it all again, I'd make myself available to the dude I liked. I wouldn't surround myself with so many chicks. I'd spend more time with him. Just him. And I'd try, you know? I'd actually try."

"Try how?" Jake asks.

"Well shit," Puck says, "I'm not exactly an expert, but I guess it's not that different from liking a girl. When you like someone, you just like them, you know? Then you just gotta find a way to show it."

And that's when Finn decides to walk in.

"And here we have a couple of wild Puckermans sharing their mating techniques," he narrates, holding up an imaginary camera. "Watch out, ladies, they're lethal in packs."

"You already know," Puck says, doing their usual handshake before he watches Finn walk over and flop down on his bed, textbook in hand.

Jake's watching the exchange with an amused look when Puck turns to him, the casual shrug of his shoulders belied by the sadness newly etched into his features.

Quiet enough that only Jake can hear it, he says, "Try not to be like me, okay?"


End file.
